Homework
by NullNoMore
Summary: Lin decides to take a break from studying to explore Primordia and NLA, perhaps rashly. Good thing she doesn't go alone, right? Spoilers to Ch. 3/5.
1. Homework

"Elma's comm device. Lin Lee Koo speaking."

"Lin? What the hell are you doing, playing around with the colonel's comm link?"

"Oooo, salty words. Did salty man crash his skelly again? Let Tatsu see!"

Doug's growl came over loud and clear on the device. Lin swiveled to keep it out of the reach of her bouncing Nopon sidekick.

"You don't play with someone else's comm link," Doug started, his tone the same as that when he lectured new BLADES on the finer points of skell weapon safety.

"Stand down, Doug," Lin snapped. She tried to look superior and professional. "Elma specifically asked me to pick up her messages while she was busy. Sort of as her assistant."

"Well, I need to talk to her. So pass me over."

"Nope, no can do. She's really really busy."

Tatsu interrupted. "Elma taking a long bath with the bubbles that smell good but taste like adsecula rump."

"ER, um," Doug was coughing hard. And blushing? Hard to tell with the resolution on these devices. But definitely interesting, thought Lin.

Lin kept a very adult, very serious look on her face. "We ran into some nasty environments on the way back from our last mission, and the colonel just had to, well, tidy up."

"Millesaur poop all over Elma. She look good with purple hair, but smell terrible."

"You didn't need to tell him that!" Lin shrieked.

"It true, though."

Doug groaned again, and grimaced. "Look, we need some skell fuel up here. It isn't urgent, but pronto would be good. I don't like having no choice except fighting on foot if I can help it. Could you get her to send somebody up as soon as she can? Maybe Cross?" He sounded like a kid, asking for 10 more minutes of screen time.

"No can do. Cross is over at Biahno Lake, testing something for Meredith and Co."

"Lucky cuss. I am so sick of beating off these … gah, gotta go, kiddo. I'm sending the coordinates now." And his rugged face blinked away as the screen dwindled to nothing.

Lin was staring at the coordinates, a thoughtful expression on her face. "Hm, that's right by the base camp on the road to the Noctilum entrance. Not all that far. Lots of little suids out that way too." She tapped the comm device to her chin, then jumped up on her toes. "It'll be perfect. Let's do it."

"Do what?" asked Tatsu.

"Let's deliver the fuel ourselves. We can be there and back before dinner time."

"No no no, Linly talking crazy talk. Elma would be so angry."

"The colonel will never know. I told you, we could be back before dinner time. We could be back even sooner if we took a skell." Her voice was an excited sing-song now.

"Meh meh meh! Elma will skin Tatsu and cook him, and she is not as good a cook as Linly. Linly want Tatsu dead but doesn't want to be accused of murder."

"Fine, no skells. I don't think I could get one past Alexa's team anyway. I think she's more worried about them than she is about me. It's like no one trusts me sometimes."

"Linly talking about sneaking out of New LA. Very trustworthy."

"I don't need your back talk. If you don't want to come, then don't."

"Linly have homework! She has duty to teachers!"

Lin puffed at her bangs, a short frustrated gesture. Even though she was a BLADE, and a practical genius when it came to developing skells, somebody had decided she still needed to take high school classes. Oh the indignity of it! She'd already pounded out all the math, chemistry and physics they could throw at her during the long trip on the White Whale, even with doing her share of all the repairs that the ship required (it had been sent up partially incomplete, in the correct idea that their time for fixing things on Earth was long over). But she still had about 3 years of other subjects to complete. Biology was currently on hold; knowledge about Miran fauna and flora, and their basic makeup, was too incomplete to make more than a few weeks of study, much less a full year. Sure, they could cover Earth-based systems, but that was perhaps a waste, or worse, a misleading subject. No one could decide if she needed a foreign language, or which one. H.B. had suggested Latin. She had suggested he stuff it, well, she had thought that, and it probably had shown on her face.

That left English, Social Studies, and something like art. Art was actually okay. It felt like a fluffy version of drawing schematics for those wonderful amazing skells she loved so much. And if most of her work was related to the mechanized suits, no one said much about it. She always put in some nice background, or sky, or squished prone, to show she had at least an idea of foreground and perspective.

But today's homework wasn't art, and it wasn't due for another 24 hours, and she wanted to go out, and she wanted to do it now.

"Come on, Tatsu. It'll be fine. I've got a jump on it and I only need to polish off the edges." And the beginning. And the middle. And end. She hadn't put a word of her essay together, although she had done the research. Most of it. Enough of it, anyway.

She banged on the bathroom door. "Elma, Tatsu and me want to go out for a bit. Your comm is on the kitchen island."

A muffled voice could be heard, a little tired and more than a little resigned. "I'll be out in a second. Go on. And if you're going by the commercial district, get me a berry muffin."

* * *

"Meh meh!" Lin could hear Tatsu, still complaining, as he trotted behind her. She quickly checked to see if he was really as scared as he sounded. They'd never left New LA on their own before, not at this distance. She saw the ringed city, resting in its blue crown of unmelting ice, across the green plains, somewhat lower and almost too far away.

Nothing dangerous that she could see. She scanned upwards, on the off chance that some indigen was flying down on them, but that was clear too. The weather was perfect, no rain, barely any wind. Plenty of time until evening. The best opportunity to escape the same old rooms and same old people.

Lin Lee Koo was determined to enjoy this chance to the fullest. Even hauling the extra fuel canisters, it was an easy run. Seven canisters for her, one for Tatsu, because the squat little xeno was already hauling who knew how many kilos of junk in that mysterious backpack of his. It definitely wasn't weaponry, because she'd never seen him fight anything. Somewhere deep inside it were snacks, he always had snacks, and he always busted them out at the absolutely worst possible moment. Actually, he passed them around constantly, so it was natural that sometimes this would coincide with the worst moment. Mira was full of bad moments.

But not today! Today was going to be fun. She already could see the path to the base camp. They'd dump the canisters there, let the team there know to trot them over to Dougie, and then she and Tatsu would have a chance to, well, just explore. Poke around. Maybe hit the beach.

It worked even better than she'd planned. The base camp was 100% Harrier, itching for an excuse to meddle with Doug's little indigen pounding problem. They were practically peeling out of the camp before she'd handed the cylinders over.

Which left a free afternoon of relaxing.

"So, what'll be? Beach or climbing? Or…," Lin said slyly, "how about a barbeque?"

"Meh, meh, meh, how many times does Tatsu have to say…"

"Relax, small fry. I've been wanting to make some suid short ribs, and if we catch one, we can take it home for dinner."

"If we catch one, we go home?" He made no effort to hide his eagerness to return.

"I promise, furball."

"Teen Team Tatsu will catch one pronto."

Lin was too experienced to attack whichever pig-like creature was closest. Their packs were loose, but when threatened they could coalesce rapidly. Singly they were weak indigens, but a crowd of them could be deadly. Large sows were easy to approach, but packed a wallop, and called for reinforcements quickly. The little males were super aggressive, and would sometimes attack a skell on sight just because. They also tended to move more quickly. But they had the tastiest meat.

Lin ran towards an open green space, prime suid territory, and started hunting, Tatsu bouncing behind her. A little bit of sneaking, a little bit of back tracking and she found exactly what they needed. Four meters away stood a smallish brass suid, located some distance from the group, with a rock blocking the line of sight of the others. "Come on, Tatsu, let's punch first and ask questions later."

She had miscalculated badly. For one thing, she'd somehow thought that Tatsu would be a help. If you had asked her directly, she would have laughed at the very idea of him landing a blow or providing a buff. He was no heropon, that was for sure. But no one had asked. Instead, her brain did the understandable calculation, two party members, twice as many hits, damage spread out a bit. Instead, he danced behind her, making an attractive target that unfortunately was being shielded by the only other party member, namely Lin Lee Koo. She never quite tripped on him, but she certainly couldn't dodge as well as she needed.

That was nothing. The suid was really small, and her shield was new and upgraded. It would have been fine, except for the fact that, well, the suid was REALLY small. Not just smallish male small. Small, as in baby suid small. It couldn't hit for much, but it squealed plenty, and that brought mama suid round the corner of the rock. With her came a male, and another female, and then a cascade of irate indigen.

"Run now?" asked Tatsu.

Lin was torn. She really wanted that suid sirloin, but if they left now they might be able to try again once the pack wasn't so aggravated. As she hesitated, a male suid darted past her and clipped Tatsu. The round Nopon rolled for some distance in a flurry of "meh's." That decided it. She raced toward him, shouting, "Let's go!"

Staying straight on the road wasn't going to work. This was the suid's home territory, and they would follow any threat within it. They needed to get to a different location, and it had to be close enough that Tatsu wouldn't fall behind. Uphill was the answer.

She legged it up towards the nearest bluff. If she could jump up it, she could pull Tatsu to safety. Luckily, she was getting pretty good at climbing (Cross was a monster for finding every possible peak to explore). It was looking good, plenty of outcroppings, it would work.

She should have noticed that the suids had dropped back faster than she'd expected. She was concentrating too hard on swerving and blocking any possible attacks on Tatsu. Looking backwards had prevented her from seeing the red furred simius directly ahead of them.

"Linly! Watch out!" This time, Tatsu did trip her, plowing into her legs and knocking her down and sideways. The simius' arm swooshed powerfully just past them, and the animal spun clumsily from the momentum. Flat on her back, she hit it directly with her gattling gun, pushing it back a few steps. It wasn't going to buy her much time. The animal reared up and howled, shaking its four fists and pawing the ground.

"Meh meh meh," squealed Tatsu, his helpfulness at an end.

They couldn't fight it. Well, they could but they wouldn't survive. Already, she felt weakened, maybe by the shock. Oh help!

From her perspective on the ground, she noticed a low opening in the uneven bluff, not quite a cave but perhaps it would provide some protection. "Tatsu, head that way!" The small xeno spotted it at about the same time, and made for it quickly. Lin Lee braced herself and focused on the simius. It hit her straight on, a sort of plowing head butt, but her shield was ready. The momentum actually pushed her towards the cave, and then she felt Tatsu grabbing her shoulders and giving a sharp pull.

The space was low but blessedly deep. Tatsu wedged himself at the very back, and Lin pressed up against him. She could barely see him, although she could feel him puffing and shaking beside her. Whatever light the small entrance provided was blocked as the simius reached in with first one, then two, then three arms. It was going to get stuck if it pushed in any farther. But it wasn't going to be able to quite reach them.

"Is Teen Team Tatsu safe?" whispered the team namesake.

"I … think so," Lin answered slowly.

They stayed there, in silence. For a long time, the simius was snuffing at the cave, reaching in with this or that arm, and grabbing the air repeatedly, but with less fury.

Suddenly, Tatsu piped up again. "Linly crying?"

She was. Crying very hard, actually, quietly, but her body was shaking even harder than Tatsu. She gulped and pressed her eyes against her knees, but she couldn't stop. Tatsu cuddled up to her, clucking gently. "Linly is okay," he murmered. "Friend Tatsu here to protect her."

She kept on crying, rocking back and forth just a little. "Meh, meh, Linly …"

"I can't do it. I just can't do it."

"Fight simius? Meh, that job for dumb Harriers. We go home and fix things. Maybe fix dessert?"

"No, not that." She raised her head. Her voice was squeaky, and hiccuppy, but she wasn't shaking as much. Still, the tears were dripping off her chin, making Tatsu's fur damp. "The stupid homework."

"Not for genius Linly. No silly problem too hard for her."

"The essay's supposed to be about voting systems. On Earth. There AREN'T any voting systems left on Earth. There's no EARTH left on Earth. I can't stand it, having to learn about things that will never be there anymore." She pressed her head against her knees again, breathing hard.

She felt Tatsu bump her head with his own silly tufted one. "Nopon caravans always follow voice of leader. Work great with good leader, like darling mamapon." He sighed, lovingly. "Big problem when leader is a stupid head. Maybe this human idea is useful for Nopon. Maybe Linly can teach Tatsu."

Lin looked at his face. The simius had moved away from the cave entrance, so she could see him fairly well now. Even with his glasses completely covering his eyes, he looked sincerely interested. Goofy little guy, he could take his role as ambassador between humans and Nopon very seriously sometimes.

"I think we can go now. At least, let me check."

Lin shimmied out, carefully, shield at the ready. Some distance away, the simius was relaxing, flopped on its back, limbs spread every which way. Its jaws moved rhythmically, making juicy smacking noises. It didn't seem to care that minutes ago it had been in a murderous rage. She gestured to Tatsu, and the pair carefully and quickly moved back towards the road. The sun was setting, and they needed to high tail it back to New Los Angeles.

Luckily, there were no further incidents on the way home. Right before they reached the barracks, Tatsu danced in front of her. "Linly's face all messy!" He passed her a soft tan cloth, embroidered with blue flowers, from somewhere in his satchel, and Lin scrubbed her face until he was satisfied. Calmly, all too calmly, they walked into the common room and right into Elma's laser like gaze.

"Doug called to thank me for the fuel," said the colonel briskly. "Strangely, he was rather upset when he learned YOU had brought it. Beside himself, actually."

The faces of the two teens fell for a moment. While Tatsu bounced with great agitation, Lin pulled herself up. "We took it to them. We left New LA without permission. We won't do it again."

"Oh, that is fact, no question. I know you're a BLADE, but you are also part of my team. I am your commander, and I am responsible for your safety." She looked pointedly at the mud on Lin's knees and the wilder than normal cowlick on Tatsu's head.

"We had to hide from an indigen. For a little bit." Even to her own ears, Lin sounded weak and very young.

"You are confined to barracks for the next week. You are to stay in New LA for two weeks. You will not leave on a mission until given direct permission. Possibly in two weeks, possibly never. Understood?"

"Yes, ma'am."

"Linly have homework to finish anyway."

Elma looked coldly at Tatsu. "Caravan Leader Koko wishes you to call her. At once. I believe your mamapon has something to say about this little episode."

"Meh meh meh meh meeeeeeeh!" wailed the xeno.

Lin didn't spare him as much sympathy as he deserved. She was just so very glad to be home, and safe, and with people who cared. Someday, she'd make barbeque suid, and it would be very tasty, but for tonight she'd make spaghetti with plain tomato sauce. It was the fastest meal she could whip up. She needed all the extra time possible if she wanted to get cracking on that essay.


	2. Study Break

AN: Spoilers to Chapter 5 (plus some affinity missions, very minor). Few swears, if any. Lin and Tatsu just cannot stay out of trouble, even when they are trying to stay on the right side of the law. And yeah! My OC Lila showed up. She's not Cross, not even close. More of a NPC with a helpful blue speech bubble: "You don't use fuel during overdrive, so save your heavy attacks until then." Lila, her station, and her crew are non-canon. The rest belongs to the geniuses of MONOLITHSOFT. Advice on managing xeno dialogue appreciated.

* * *

Club of fools, what can you expect with Tatsu as president.

"Booring. Bored bored bored."

Tatsu was rolling about one of the barrack's couch. This was a particularly effective motion, since he was so nearly spherical. Actually, more onion shaped. But definitely built to roll in exaggerated agony.

Lin looked over at her unofficial sidekick. Lin Lee Koo was almost to the end of her 2 weeks of punishment, grounded in New Los Angeles. Almost, but not quite. Tatsu hadn't been officially grounded, at least, she didn't think he had been. Whatever his mamapon had said to him, however, had left him strangely quiet and helpful for several days. Clearly, the effect was wearing off.

Lin was bored, but in a different way. Not only had her team commander, Elma, declared that Lin was not allowed on any missions for two whole weeks, she had also decided that Lin did not have enough classwork. Foreign language had been added, Spanish 1. A random choice, based mainly on the name of their Habitat Unit. Lin wasn't unhappy about it. Turned out, New LA's #1 skellhead, Alexa, was pretty fluent in the language, and had been happy to help out. Learning basic vocabulary wasn't so bad when you used skells as teaching tools. The day they played Hokey Pokey ("mete una mano, saca una mano") had been a blast, until somebody got a bit complainy about it. Lin clicked her teeth about that. What was the big deal? There hadn't literally been any blasting, except just once when they shook it all about.

She'd also gotten a PE schedule. PE! It made no sense. Sit-ups and push-ups and jogging. If they'd let her go back out on missions, she'd get plenty of exercise, especially if she was teamed up with Rookie "Let's see if we can swim to Sylvalum" Cross. Let's rock climb into Cauldros. Let's see if we can run past this tyrant, now THAT would increase her heart rate. Jogging seemed pretty pitiful by comparison, even if it had meant she'd been allowed outside for a few hours that first week when she was completely restricted to barracks.

So now she had all this pointless homework, bordering on busy work. And the sad thing was, she'd blasted through it in record time, leaving her itchy and, well, bored. Too tired of reading to read. Too tired of memorizing to learn. Too tired of anything that involved thinking.

She didn't even feel like teasing Tatsu about cooking him. She'd cooked so much that first week, and now that was boring too. Granted, her crème brûlée was to die for now, but enough was enough.

"Booooored. Tatsu is dying of boooring. Too young for this. All Nopon cry when Tatsu die. Of BOOOOOOREDOM!"

"Well, you think of something. If I make a suggestion, you'll just complain that it will get us into trouble."

"Tatsu will not. Tatsu's lips are sealed about how Linly almost get Tatsu killed by spider ape and piggie gang."

"Yeah, silent as the grave, that's you."

"Tatsu die and return to Great Tree, soooooooo boooooooooorrrrrrrreeeeeeeddddddd!"

Lin sighed and stood up from the couch opposite him. "Come on, tater tot. Let's go."

Tatsu froze. "Linly will not get us in trouble?"

"See? See?! That's why I didn't want to help you. That was literally the first thing you said, and here I am, only trying to keep you alive!"

"Tatsu is sorry. Very humbly sorry."

He had never been humble since she met him, but she just shrugged. "We are not going to get in any trouble. I've done my stinking homework, you've done whatever your mom told you to do, we get to go out as long as we don't leave New L.A." She grimaced. "Or go into the hangar area." That small addendum to her restrictions had hurt almost as much as being refused permission to go on missions. She missed messing around with skells so bad.

On the other hand, she did not look forward to seeing Doug again. Elma had been bad enough, tough and angry and disappointed. Lin wasn't ready to face Doug's freak out – it would be louder, and longer, and somehow she suspected he was even unhappier about the whole thing than Elma had been.

"Let's go see L."

"Okey dokey." Now where had he learned that phrase? Of all the weirdnesses that formed Tatsu, there was always something new.

L was a tall, distinctively blue alien that Elma's team had met not long after acquiring Tatsu. Definitely more elegant, but almost as weird. Lin wasn't always sure she trusted him, especially after he had requested permission to eat the barrack's cat. But he was polite and imaginative, and might have a suggestion for curing the (pardon the pun) blues.

They scooted along the main BLADE causeway, bustling with humans that actually still had a purpose in life. Several greeted her, or waved. Lin restrained a growl when a smirking H.B. asked her how she was enjoying her break from missions. Must. Not. Screech at him, she counseled herself. He knew exactly that this break was enforced. Everybody must know how she'd made a fool of herself, and maybe even almost gotten killed to boot.

She was glad to swerve down Armory Alley and away from him. L had a shop at the very end, a very curious affair compared its surroundings. Where every other galley and bay was awash in flickering floating screens, touch consoles, and what could only be politely described as military grade furniture (did they really need that much olive colored canvas?), L's shop was exquisite in its taste. A detailed rug in rich tones on the floor, native greenery all around, several glowing or glimmering metal objects that might be art or cooking utensils or deadly weapons, just going to visit his shop was a treat.

"Miss Koo, what a delight. We are so gratified that you are back on your pins and needles."

"Er, yeah, great to see you too, L."

"So, you are joining the crowd that comes for shopping. Such a delightful passing time, and so very useful for our own personal continued business health. What can your interest be today?"

"Oh, gee, sorry L, I'm sort of broke."

"Then we must fix you at once."

"No, I mean, since I haven't, well," Lin hesistated. "Well, I haven't been on any missions lately, so I am sort of out of credits."

"Linly and Tatsu flat broke. Flat, so very flat, broke."

"And yet you are still the picture of round Nopon health, my young friend," replied L cheerfully. "Well, if you are not in our market for shopping, perhaps we can offer you a little job. Not a mission, of course, merely a chance to help the other foot."

Lin blinked. "Sure, I guess, as long as it is in New Los Angeles."

"Exactly my thinking. We are so glad that our minds are harmonious. There is an augment in need of delivering, a special order that we hope will solve special problems. Well, we hope it will not cause more problems. Or injuries, that is also something not to be hoped. Or minor burns. Or major burns…"

L appeared to have several other things he hoped would not happen that he was ready to mention, so Lin cut him off. "As long as you think it is safe to transport, I'm game."

"Well played, my young sporting friends. Let me see." He turned to his Ma-non co-worker, who dove under a table and after much rustling came out with a small package, wrapped in what looked white tissue paper and candy cane striped pink string.

"So, this is it?"

"Precisely. If you would just trot this down to Lila at Auxiliary Skell Refueling Substation 1, please. We shall transfer you the credits, a paltry handful but full of gratitude."

"It's not necessary…" started Lin, but Tatsu was already shouting the address of his comm device.

Lin held the package in her hand. It seemed pretty normal, although perhaps a little warm. "Can I ask what it is?"

"You may both ask and receive an answer. No secrets are safe between friends! It is Resist Stagger XXI, newly created by this very shop."

"XXI?! But augments only go up to 20!"

"Why stop there? We have wondered, and now we hope to find out. Lila has very kindly agreed to test it, at least for safety. She funded it as well. She has bought it and may now break it. Although the merits of testing it near so many flammable combustibles may be worthy of debate. Shall we?"

"No, no, I'm sure it will be okay. Bye, L, and thanks. Let's scoot, Tatsu." This was said a bit sharply, as Tatsu was busy making goofy faces in the reflective surface of one of L's products.

There was one slight problem. The refueling station was located in the hangar section. Right on the edge, mind you, not exactly officially part of the BLADE area, if you thought about it. It certainly wasn't BLADE run. At least, no one running it was BLADE. Lila and two other reject humans, plus a chatty Ma-non, kept it going, and its presence was tolerated by the hangar staff, in not exactly respected.

Lin swerved around the front of BLADE tower, headed for the auxiliary elevator that also served the residential district. Nothing suspicious about that. The hangar bordered the housing area, and anyone could think Lin and Tatsu were off to play some tennis, or look at some trees, or something innocent.

Tatsu, however, was getting agitated. "Meh meh! We are not going where Tatsu think we are going!"

"We aren't going anywhere bad, Tatsu. We'll just pop by Lila's and then be on our way. It doesn't really count." Especially if no one noticed them. Luckily, it was on the other side of the hangar, across from where most of the action was, and tucked behind any number of shipping containers, almost to the walls of the city.

Official refueling was free, but could be slow, so teams in a rush (or with poor planning skills) were Lila's best customers. But there was more to it than that. Auxiliary Skell Refueling Substation 1 had a reputation for keeping skells in better condition than most of the rest of the hangar, in a very limited way. Lin didn't use it much, preferring to work on a skell herself whenever she had a chance, but even Alexa gave them the compliment of recommending them to her teams. "My best employee back in the day, no real genius for skells, no vision about them, but man can she clean your treads." They didn't do damage repairs, but they seemed to spot problems well in advance. If you left your skell with them, you were liable to receive a long list of things you better get seen to, as well as a shorter list of problems they had solved already. Overheating? Not after they'd redone your cooling fluid levels. Strange squeak? A quick re-balancing of hydraulics had seen to that as well.

Lin had once spent a little time there, waiting for a refueling for a surprise mission (she really had been meaning to do it herself, but things kept coming up, what with practically everyone asking Elma or Cross for help). The station team was loud and seemed super useless as a whole, except for the fact that they somehow got the job done, and done fast. Twyleth, the Ma-non, was the closest thing to a ditz that the Ma-non had to offer. Great with tools, better with talking, and constantly fluttering around the place, warbling ear piercing show tunes. Did she ever finish a job she started? Trailing her, spewing questions about just what it was that he was supposed to do, and eventually completing her unfinished jobs was Ricky-Bobby. He was tall, kind of freckly, and seemed to have only one true talent, a genius for sloshing things. Or dropping things. Every time there was a clash or clatter, the team yelled, in unison, "Ricky-Bobby!" And he'd yell back, "My bad!" Which happened at least three times during the hour or so she'd waited there. She wasn't sure what was up with Gino, older, quiet, angry, with eyes and hair only a little darker than his coffee colored skin. He'd worked quickly, but as soon as there was a pause he'd stop, slumping to the ground for a few seconds, before he was required to continue a job. And everyone knew about Lila, although most people pretended they didn't. Poor thing had mim-based agoraphobia that kept her hugging the walls, practically crawling under the edges of things. Except she'd be crawling under your skell, cleaning and prepping it like a fury, until the job was done before you knew it.

Lila had her back to them when they arrived, somewhat stealthily if you ignored Tatsu's worried squeaks. She was looking up at a regulation perfect, camo green skell, tapping her toe in annoyance. "And done, with 40 minutes to spare. Which gives me 2 minutes before he rolls in."

"Excuse me, Miss Lila," Lin spoke to get her attention.

The tech whirled around, her face shifting from sour to suspicious. "Good morning, Miss Koo," she said, politely. She tilted her head to one side. "I don't believe you are supposed to be here."

Lin huffed a protest, "This can't really count, and what do you know about it anyway?"

"Muscle man spill beans," suggested Tatsu helpfully.

"It did come up last week," Lila said, with a quick smile. Commander Vandham's Thursday coffee date with Lila was reliable as Mira's moons and not at all as romantic, mostly consisting of 5 minutes of fuel invoices and resource requests plus 2 minutes of hangar gossip. Done in 10, and one of the few reliable ways of finding the Commander. Lin had used the weekly event once to try and arrange a date for the Commander, which had ended in disaster, except not really. By the end of the day, the blind date (a rather statuesque Reclaimer) had gone off with Gino. A bit of a disappointment after all Lin's efforts to match Vandham with someone nice and eligible. The Commander hadn't exactly laughed at her for the rest of the week, but it had felt that way. Actually, he had absolutely laughed at her, quite loudly. Lin cringed at the memory a little.

"Anyway, we're here on a job, and then we're gone."

"Well, go fast, because this is Hector's skell and he's due any minute now. If he sees you, I'm going to have to, well, …"

"Turn us in? Tell Elma? Get Tatsu in trouble?" offered Tatsu.

"Protect you, on general principles. What's the job?"

"We brought you something. From L." Lin handed the woman the package and was rewarded with a true smile.

"Oh, thanks! I've been waiting for this. I knew it was due soon." Lila sounded very pleased indeed.

"Is it for, um, you know, your problem with, um, vision?" Lin wasn't sure she should mention it.

Lila's smile twisted but didn't disappear. "Well, it can't hurt, you know? I doubt it will actually do much, the accessory limit is pretty well reached, but the chance that…" She cut off her speech as she looked into the distance. Suddenly, she was shoving them towards the station office. "Inside, now, and do NOT make a sound!"

Tatsu bounced nervously inside the dim and tiny office, with Lin shushing him, waving her hands silently. Through the battered blinds, thankfully closed, she could just make out H.B. walking towards Lila. She held her breath, and listened through the not particularly sturdy door.

"Hector. So good to see you, and right on time. The job just finished." Lila sounded suspiciously bored.

H.B. was not bored. "I thought I saw Lin Lee and her, ah, associate here."

"No, I don't think so. I'd be sorry to have missed them."

"Let me into the office."

There was the fraction of a pause, then a sigh. "Sure. Go on ahead." They could hear Lila step aside. Lin held her breath, but after a series of electronic beeps, the door still hadn't opened.

"It's locked," H.B. said with restrained anger.

"Really. Then go get your key."

"Nonsense. I don't have a key, woman. You have it."

"Hector, really, you want me to help you break into someplace you don't have proper access to? I don't think that's very ethical."

"This isn't funny."

"It never is." Lila's voice had dropped to almost a mutter. Lin wondered just how much annoyance she was hiding. (Answer: no annoyance, 100% pure rage.)

"Just because you have protection…"

"Protection? I don't have any protection. This is my job and I do it fine. So back off." Lila's arm movements were casting wild shadows on the blinds, and Lin noticed that the station had grown quiet. No clanging, no whooshing, no high-pitched Ma-non singing.

"When the BLADE leadership changes, I guarantee that I will to start with this station."

"When that happens, IF that happens, I will join a Nopon caravan and be glad to," snapped the tech. Quickly, Lin clamped a hand over Tatsu's mouth, because she felt sure there was a protest bubbling out of him. She herself felt like raising a cheer. Like H.B. had a shot at replacing the Commander. Nyah nyah nyah. Lin silently stuck out her tongue in support.

"Look, Hector, your skell is ready and good to go. I'm sure that there are some Prone whose lives you could make miserable. Have at them, with my blessings."

"This isn't over."

"Oh, please. Now, go get 'em, flyboy."

Was this the end? Lin was still afraid that H.B. would demand Lila open the door. Would she really refuse a direct order from a BLADE? That was kind of dangerous territory.

But to her relief, H.B. stomped away. She risked a peek through a gap in the blinds, nose wrinkling at the dust. She could see him swinging into his skell, as Gino rushed to remove all the restraints. "Go go go get 'em, flyboy, you know?" squeaked the Ma-non, enthusiastically waving her hand in farewell. "Yeah, go get 'em, you the flyman, duuude!" shouted Ricky-Bobby, pumping his fist in the air. Lin thought Gino said about the same thing, although his gesture wasn't quite as civil, but it was covered by the sound of H.B. stomping away again, this time in massive mechanized form.

It was several minutes before there was a knock on the office door. "You can come out now."

"Lila, thank you thank you thank you!"

"Just get out of here. No, not that way!" Lila shouted as Lin headed out towards the main causeway between the lower administrative area and the residential area. She yanked them in the opposite direction, heading behind the office.

"Why not?"

"Because Hector is probably lurking just on the edge of the hangar area, waiting to pounce on you with his entire righteous skelled-up self. You're going to need to take the access walkway along the ring."

"What? No one uses that!"

"Except repair crews and maintenance staff, and you better hope you don't meet them until you hit the commercial section." She was shoving them again, this time back even further, towards the wall of the city.

Lin stopped at the small staircase, really a ladder, and turned to look at Lila. Strange, she was only a few centimeters shorter than the tech. It made her feel more grown up but no less grateful. "Lila, why do you dislike H.B. so much?"

Lila rolled her eyes. "If I said he was Eliot House, would that explain things?"

"No."

"Well, let's just say that the rivalries between schools are nothing compared to the rivalries between dorms …. Were nothing." Lila shut her eyes and took a deep breath. She looked deeply sad. "So stupid, like if we can somehow keep it going, maybe they aren't all lost." Her eyes snapped open, and she gave a small shake, followed by an even smaller grin. "Besides, he's a royal pain. I'm counting this one as a win, but DON'T COME BACK."

"Got it. Bye, Lila." Lin shouted as she clambered away.

"Bye scary short lady! You can join Dodonga Caravan when Tatsu is in charge," called Tatsu.

And that's how Lin and Tatsu earned enough credits to split a mango parfait at Rosemoss.

* * *

"So, I had a complaint about insubordination."

"Wait, wait, if this is from whom I think it's from, you know how I am going to respond."

"From whom. Cute. He'd like that."

Lila sighed, but she followed it with a grin. "Miss Koo and Friend Tatsu visited my place the other day. Hector took exception, especially when I wouldn't let him into my office. I believe I called him 'flyboy.'" She said the last word with a certain savor, like it tasted delicious if slightly bitter.

"Oh sweet Jesus, will your life of crime never end?" guffawed Vandham. But he was serious a second later. "You know they were restricted."

"Yeah, but not by me. I'm not BLADE, and I'll use what few privileges that brings me. They left as soon as I told them to, and they didn't whine."

"Think I should tell Elma about this?"

"Already done, sir. If she's ignoring it, I'd leave it be."

"You ratted the kids out?"

"Absolutely. I trust their commanding officer. I trust commanders generally." She fluttered her eyelashes at him.

"Nope. Flattery is not going to convince me to buy you a pastry next time."

"Worth a shot, sir, worth a shot."


	3. Field Trip

A/N: Mostly Oblivia, no spoilers past Ch. 3. I am not up for writing fight scenes, so I didn't. Fill it in yourself, with lots of beam weaponry and that wild back flip thing. I had trouble using "they" for Cross (he's a 180cm Uncle Iroh in my game, grrrrr) but it came out okay (helps to remember that my kid's Cross is a twinkly, deadly little ninja).

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

Hallelujah, restrictions were over.

Lin could not stop grinning, ear to ear. She'd been restricted to New LA for two weeks, after an admittedly stupid stunt. What had she been thinking, going it alone in western Primordia? Sure, the worst of that area had been knocked down by BLADE, and sure, she had plenty of experience and some nice new shiny weaponry. Sure, she hadn't technically been in any danger, just sort of inconvenienced by a long armed and somewhat testy simian. No problems, not really. But no excuse to go without permission. Going it alone was a bad idea. BLADES that did that usually were not to be trusted (except for the ones that were super awesome).

Strictly speaking, she hadn't exactly gone alone either, having taken radishlike Tatsu with her. But even Lin couldn't quite use that as a point in her favor.

She'd spent two straight weeks, silently arguing her case, mostly silently, but just as carefully NOT saying it out loud in front of Elma. Lin might be in the right, anyone could see that the punishment was exaggerated, but something warned her that she would suddenly find herself very much in the soup if she said a word. So she had taken the punishment, and tried to keep Tatsu from dying of boredom, and done her stupid homework, including a multi-media presentation on skells for her art class (skell diorama plus skell collage plus skell pastel, all with detailed side arm cannons, yummy). She'd made it through 14 days, which is 336 hours, and Lin would gladly tell you the minutes because she'd figured that out too (20,160). And the seconds. She had been very very good, and hadn't brought up what came next until breakfast of day 15. After Elma had coffee. Or at least after she had taken her second sip. First sip. Well, the mug was being filled, that counted as breakfast time, so Lin was ready to ask.

"So, colonel, it's been two weeks already."

"Mmm hmmm," replied Elma.

"And I was thinking, since Tatsu and I have learned our lesson and everything, maybe…"

"Mmm hmmm?"

It came out in a rush. "We really really want to go back out on a mission, or something. Anything. Please. We've been really well behaved, wouldn't you say so, Tatsu?"

"Tatsu enjoy not almost dying from sharp teeth, but life is so boooooorrrrrring." Not exactly what she wanted, that mention of almost dying, because that definitely hadn't been true. Not really. At least not from sharp teeth. Massive trauma, more likely, but that was not her point.

"I see," replied Elma from over the edge of her coffee mug. "Unfortunately, I have a meeting on the Ma-non ship. Concerns about xeno requirements taxing our resources. I'm afraid that will take me all day."

"Shoot, Elma, why do they always drag you into that kind of thing? Just because we met them first doesn't mean we have to babysit them."

"Meh, meh, Tatsu is member of team. No babysitting required."

"Like fun you don't need it. You're a roly-poly liability."

"Tatsu key to success of team."

"Right, because of your mad bento skills?"

"Linly like to give back follow ball maybe? And Tatsu provide superior snacks."

Elma raised one hand to stop the quarrelling. "I said that I wasn't available. You may go on a mission…"

"Yeah!"

"… provided you go with a full team."

"Okay."

"And an approved team leader. Not just any recruit."

"Oh." Great, now Lin would have to convince somebody trustworthy to accept her. She ticked down the list, but she wasn't sure who might agree. Irina had already chewed her out, quickly and thoroughly, and Gwin was Irina's personal echo. Alexa was busy. Lao didn't even want his own team. L was too weird to count as reliable. Lin preferred not to think about Doug. He still hadn't talked to her, and she didn't want to risk hearing what he had to say. She'd used him as an excuse to sneak out of NLA, and somehow that had really made him angry.

Tatsu's face showed he had run the same calculations. They were probably out of luck, for another day.

"So you better check if Cross has filled their team yet." Elma gave the smallest of smiles as the two teens lit up like Nopon fireworks.

It took an agonizing extra minute for Tatsu to get his rucksack, and then an additional three minutes for him to choose which hat to wear. Lin was beside herself, trying not to scream. He always wore the exact same one. The. Exact. Same. One! She wasn't convinced he had another one. But occasionally he'd go fussy and contemplate his possibly mythical wardrobe.

"That one. The one you're wearing right now. The green one," she hissed.

"Linly think so?"

"Yeah, sure, it makes you look very vegetative. Organic. Artisan. Can we just go?"

Lin dashed across the corridor, headed for the mission board. It was a long shot to see if Cross was still there, but sometimes they picked a loose recruit, usually based on looks or banter. Cross was so confident, they didn't really worry about skill. Shallow, maybe, but she wasn't going to criticize them today, so long as she could be on the team too. No such luck. Lin wondered if she should just page their comm device, but Cross had a nasty habit of ignoring calls they didn't like.

"Cross headed down to the residential district, if that's who you're looking for." Lin turned and looked straight at Eleonora's smiling face. The BLADE officer waved towards the auxiliary elevator north of BLADE tower. "And welcome back, Lin. Just don't get into any more trouble."

"Thanks!" Lin shot around the mission area. It was nice to know that someone was rooting for her. Tatsu bounced along behind her.

The elevator took an eternity to arrive, and then the gates opened and closed at a snail's pace, and still they were not down. Lin was dancing with agony. I should just have jumped, she thought, but she'd overshot the landing one too many times in the past, ending up in the liquid impact gel below. She didn't want to spend a quarter of an hour swimming and climbing. She wanted to find Cross.

And there they were, just as she'd know they'd be. Talking to H.B. Lin realized she had already seen this coming. But, darn it, this was the only way to get on a mission, so she'd take it, warts and all. H.B. and warts, the thought made her giggle a little.

"Snooty man, meh. Tatsu can do without."

"Shhh, play nice. You want to go on a mission, right?" She skipped up to the two BLADEs, and was relieved when Cross shot her a broad smile.

"Hi ya, Cross. Um, Elma said you were putting a team together, and I was wondering…"

"Miss Koo, I presume you have completed your detention?" interrupted H.B.

"Yes, H.B., you presume correctly. Me and Tatsu are cleared and ready to head out." She watched as the green-eyed man struggled against the urge to correct her grammar. Just as she hoped, he caved.

"Tatsu and I. Really, are you sure you don't have some English homework you need to complete instead?"

Lin so wanted to call him Hector. She knew it bugged him. But she remembered her warning to Tatsu, and played nice with the snooty man.

"Nope, like I said, all clear. So, Cross, can we come along?"

Cross smiled again, and nodded. "Come on." With that, the foursome was racing towards the hangar (Cross never, ever merely walked anywhere).

Well, this was going to be awkward. She kept up the hope that Cross would stop by someone else, but as they passed the skell repair area, and the lower briefing tables, and up the ramp, past the researchers' tents, Lin knew there was no avoiding her fate. There was no one Cross was going to talk to besides Doug.

Doug was where he usually hung out, when not on missions, drinking yet another thermos of coffee. Lin devoutly hoped it was decaf, because otherwise he must be a mass of internal jitters. She had a fair share of jitters, herself. She really wanted Doug to be okay with her again.

Doug looked at the group before him, greeting each in turn. Was his voice a little cold when he said her name? Was Cauldros kind of overheated? Why, yes and yes, they were. Lin sighed to herself. Great, she now ranked lower on Doug's list of favorite people than H.B. Probably lower than certain Ganglion. He sure could hold a grudge.

Tatsu was oblivious to the tension. "Where Team Tatsu going? And will we earn many credits? Because Tatsu bored of being broke."

H.B. filled him in, in that insufferable voice of his. Lin stopped herself. No point disliking people just for who they were. She resolved to not just play nice, but actually be a good team member.

So let's try this again, she thought. H.B. filled him in, with that precise voice of his. "This is hardly a mission worthy of my capabilities, or even of those of Cross. I was surprised when they chose it. Well, perhaps they had the talents of other team members in mind." Never mind. Lin decided his voice really was insufferable. "We're to gather 5 spiked pomegranates and deliver them to Dorian Caravan." He frowned. "I realize we need to keep our allies happy, but grocery shopping pushes the limits of friendship."

"Come on, it's an easy way to pick up a few credits. Run around, grab the fruit, collect the fee. We'll be home to get another mission by lunch."

"I'll be home long before that, Doug. I'm surprised we don't already have the materials here in New LA."

The two men looked at each other, expectantly. Doug blushed and shrugged. "I cash in everything as soon as I can. What's your excuse?"

"I don't let myself be distracted by every bauble in my path."

Lin hadn't had the chance to be distracted for two whole weeks, and she had cooked everything in her inventory during that hiatus, but she didn't feel like mentioning it.

All eyes turned to Cross, who looked innocent. "Tell me you have them already, man," said Doug, hope entering his voice. Cross grinned and held up 4 fingers. "Woo hoo, we just need one more then!"

"Your math skills are impressive," H.B. said quietly.

"What? You like math? Then how about we make this mission more interesting. First one to find the fruit gets the other's share."

"Such crass greed for credits. I accept, if only to teach you a lesson."

"Yeah, sure. I'm liking this mission suddenly." Then he looked at Lin and frowned. "Most of it, anyway."

Lin couldn't quite think of a thing to say. But there was no need, because Cross was off again, headed for the elevator that would take them to the East Gate.

"Must you always dash like that?" complained H.B.

"Hey, what about skells?" chimed in Doug.

Lin raced past them and dashed beside Cross. "What about fast…"

Cross made a quick slashing gesture across their throat, and flicked their head towards the arguing men behind them. Lin did not get why this was such a secret. She knew about fast travel, Elma knew about it, she was pretty sure Nagi knew (what didn't the Secretary know?) But very few other people seemed to, and Cross had always been very conservative in using it around most team members. Even if it meant burning through skell fuel or running an extra minute, or swimming for, well, a long long time.

"Stop!" shouted Doug, just as they hit the East Gate. His voice was loud enough to actually make Cross screech to a halt. "Guys, listen, what about skells? Because, without them, it's going to take all day. And if we get into a fight, I'd rather be all dolled up."

H.B. now looked very uncomfortable. "Um, mine is at the BLADE hangar, being repaired. I was trying to add an augment by myself but somehow it didn't work as planned."

Doug sighed. "So ride with me, already."

Cross shook their head. They looked directly at Doug and said in a low voice, "You need more practice fighting on foot." And with that, Cross took to their heels and followed the path that would take them to Oblivia.

Lin was fine with it. Just being out of New Los Angeles was a joy. The weather really was perfect, with just a hint of a rainbow crossing the pale moon low on the horizon. Her feet skimmed the soft green grass, and she gave a few delighted leaps over low rocks and surprised suids. No indigen was going to bother this team.

Not true. As they curved towards Janpath Lake, they came face to face with a tyrant, a giant simian, galloping along on its four massive arms, sleek and graphite black. It had a flamboyant red mane and lush sideburns, but mostly Lin paid attention to its huge fists. Even in skells, their team would be at a disadvantage. Lin would have shuddered to a stop, but Cross grabbed her hand and swerved smoothly out of the path of the animal, not even slowing a second. She glanced at Doug. He was following, just as smoothly, but he already had his weapon out, ready for a fight.

"Surely you must be joking!" snapped H.B. He'd noticed too.

"Just keeping my options open," replied Doug. "Good to be ready." He shrugged and replaced his raygun on his back.

"Tatsu not like spider apes. They like snacking too much, and maybe think Nopon are tasty. We are not tasty. We are horrible! Horrible!"

"Your words," muttered Doug.

Tatsu continued with a long list of indigen that were too hungry for his liking. Lin tuned it out, keeping just a little closer to Cross as they continued along the path. There weren't any other threats of note. The dinosaur-like millesaurs could have wiped them out with a single stomp, of course, but they were too intent on feeding, as always. Their necks dipped and rose gracefully in the lake water. The biggest danger was their poop, a thought that had both Lin and Tatsu giggling in memory of the time Elma was dosed with purple slimy refuse. Had that only been two weeks ago?

But the run continued, smooth and perfect, as far as Lin was concerned. She didn't even mind the short swim to pick up the path over the land bridge to Oblivia. The grass was drier, spikier to the feet, but not dangerous in any way. She could see the narrow entrance to the eastern continent, guarded by its weird carved pillars. Did they represent anything? She'd run past them dozens of times, and never could decide. Some days, they looked like whales gaping at the sky, a weird depiction for the gateway to a desert land. Other days, they reminded her of the disembodied hooves of some great, six-legged creature. Not that anyone in the colony had time to waste in figuring such things out. Maybe somebody would, later, and then they'd probably assign homework on it, too. In which case, they could take their time as far as she was concerned.

It was at this point that trouble started. First, Doug was swerving to pick up every collectible, no matter how common. He kept up a steady pace, but even these little wobbles slowed them down.

"Focus, man. We have a mission," hissed H.B.

"Hey, if you want to leave credits lying on the ground, that's your choice."

Then the weather turned nasty. Not quite electrical storm nasty, but definitely blowing hard and full of sand. Visibility was reduced, but that didn't stop H.B. from plowing forward without hesitation. Lin was all for getting places quickly, but after they had bumped into a falsaxum, a beetle-shaped and barn-sized indigen, she felt sure he'd show more caution. They'd wasted extra minutes subduing the angry critter, an easy but unnecessary fight. She'd been careful to listen to her teammates, glad to weaken its towering knobby legs when Doug gave a shout. It was the closest they'd had to a pleasant conversation. She missed teasing him.

But the falsaxum was not the end of it. H.B. had bumped into a pack of wolf-like grexes and then a set of floaty killer flowers. Cross just kept running after that last provocation, even while H.B. got off a few shots. "Come on, man!" shouted Doug, running past him. "Mission, focus, ya know?"

Lin couldn't make sense of it. H.B. was always pushing them to move faster, and then he would go out of his way to antagonize relatively boring if bitey indigen. It wasn't until they passed what was clearly a nest of buried tectinsula and H.B. gave a little stutter step towards them, that she was sure it was on purpose. Cross was way ahead of her, stopping directly in H.B.'s way. The haughty Pathfinder bounced off of their team leader and glared at them. Cross ignored H.B.'s emerald gaze and pointed in the opposite direction, following the river away from the falls. The supercilious Pathfinder turned away without a word.

"What's up with H.B.?" she asked Doug, in a quiet voice.

He hesitated before replying. "Next time we pass a Frontier Nav site, watch what he does. I think he's protecting them or something." Suddenly, he remembered he was still angry with her and put on a burst of speed, pulling away from her.

But by this point, Cross was clearly getting a little annoyed at their party. They headed straight for a Reclaimer's outpost. While the others took a break, Cross was quietly speaking with H.B.

Tatsu wandered around. Lin watched him quizzing the outpost staff. He bounced back, looking put out. "Outpost friends say Dorian Caravan long long run from here. Tatsu tired of getting sand in all sorts of wiggly places. Can we use skells now?"

"Our skells are back home, you dumb puff ball," replied Doug.

"Hey, don't call him dumb," snapped Lin.

"Show some sense, either of you, and I'll stop."

"You know what, Doug? I'm just fine. Get over it. I made a little mistake and I was grounded and now I want to do a good job again. So stop acting like I'm not here."

"Wish you weren't," muttered Doug.

"What?!" Lin couldn't even think of something more to say. It was a good thing that Cross started running again, because if she had come up with something, it would have been long and not at all pretty.

"Tatsu glad Linly here."

"Aw, thanks, Tatsu."

"More glad if Linly's skell here."

"And we're back…"

* * *

They were headed straight for the skeletal and incredibly grand ring in the south east of the continent. It resembled a slanting gear, dropped into the sand by a divine but careless clockmaker. There was no way to climb it, as far as she could tell. Yet another reason to get that flight module completed. She itched to stand at the top and gaze across the desert. You'd be able to see forever. The sandstorm had dropped away, leaving a magenta sky, the largest moon perfectly framed by the ring.

Cross stopped after they'd swum quickly and quietly past some lazy but toothy dilus. Clearly, night was coming on them fast. Cross wanted to know if the team wanted to stop for the night. Or, maybe, they could just run on? There was always enough moonslight to light up the Miran landscape.

"Hey, sooner we're done, the sooner we're done. Let's go on. Besides, I'm sure Milly will find a way to put us up at Dorian Caravan," Doug pointed out.

"Milly? Since when have Nopon been adopting human nicknames?" asked H.B.

"Milly is a human, genius. She's gorgeous to boot. Almost as much of a looker as Elma," Doug said appreciatively.

"There's no point wasting personnel this far away. Must not be much of a BLADE," sniffed H.B.

Tatsu stopped his mindless bouncing and gave a reply. "Milly helping set dumbheads of Dorian Caravan straight. Dorianpon love business too much, even for Nopon. They forget future cannot be paid for with credits. Friends show other way."

Doug had to explain it all over again to the bewildered H.B. Something about Tatsu's grammar sent the poor man into shock. "It's all part of bringing the Nopon into the alliance. That caravan, they're way too commercially friendly with the local enemy forces. If we can convince them we're a better bet, well, that's more useful in the long run than kicking some indigen's butt. Betcha the Commander could put you straight on that." Doug grinned at H.B.'s discomfort at the mention of Commander Vandham.

It was fully night now, as they reached the entrance to Central Ibra Ravine. Two fat trees, taller than a stack of skells, flanked the narrow but flat pathway to the best location to pick up the sought for pomegranates. The veins of the great leaves were traced with glowing red. Lin looked directly up at the Great Ring. It seemed ancient and decaying. She hoped nothing dropped onto them as they passed under it.

Lin realized why Cross had been set against skells. The ravine was full of fairly strong indigen, packed one on top of the other. They'd ignore a small party of humans travelling on foot, hugging the edges of the rocks, ready to dart out of the way. Skells, however, would have made them equals, and therefore targets. Going through this narrow pass in mechanized form would have required one fight after another, possibly with multiple enemies at the same time. On their left, a sylooth strode past, a walking glowing forest grove on two legs, its slow motion not hiding the fact that a swipe from one of its long arms could wipe out a weaker team instantly. Lin gave a little shiver. She didn't like her chances even with Doug and Cross. Lin made a mental note to avoid attacks that affected anything but a single enemy, not the widest of choices when your main weapon was a gattling gun.

Cross veered left, into the smaller ravine. Lin could just make out Lake Basel, glimmering in the moonslight, when suddenly, a scorpion the size of a garbage truck dropped from the rocks above. Lin couldn't repress a cry of fear. Ictus, Latin for eight legs of pain. They could stab, they could bite, they could spit, and as a charming bonus they had a tendency to jump and squish you flat. She stepped back, bumping into Doug. He'd placed himself right beside her, weapon draw and already charged.

Cross held up their hand, motioning everyone to stop. The ictus preened and waved its claws about, but it didn't attack. Everyone moved quickly but silently around the giant monster, setting weapons away. Clearly, they wouldn't be bothered until they actively engaged the critter.

Lin was glad when they reached the lakeside clearing. Still full of indigen, ictus among them, but also full of various fruits and other goodies. The hunt for pomegranates was on.

Several minutes passed. "Do you think they'd take watermelon? 'Cause that's all I'm getting," complained Doug.

H.B. snapped, "Let me think. Hmmm. No."

Lin had worked her way to the edge of the clearing closest to the caravan. She started hopping up and down, making little leaps to see if she could spot any overlooked fruits. There! A pink object just past the triangular rock. No one had seen it yet. She stooped to pick it up the small ball of spikes, glad that her equipment included some pretty sturdy gloves today. "Whooo hoo, I got it, guys!" she shouted.

At which point yet another ictus dropped from the rock arch curving over her and engaged the entire party.

* * *

It was about an hour later when they reached Dorian Caravan. Too late to make the delivery, but Milly had roused herself from a tent-like thing and gotten them bedding and a snack. She sat with them while they were eating. Lin agreed that Milly was really pretty, with strawberry blond hair that didn't even bother with being blond, but not as good looking as the colonel. She half expected Doug to go into full flirt mode, but he was almost as quiet as Cross.

H.B., Tatsu and Lin kept Milly entertained with their description of their most recent battle. H.B. provided the details, while Lin gave the color commentary. Highly imaginative at times, but what story shouldn't be improved in the retelling? She was getting the giggles by the end. H.B. gave up trying to set the record straight and moved to one side to argue something with Cross.

"And then… and then…" Lin was having trouble because she was laughing so hard. "Then Doug picks up Tatsu and runs like he's carrying a football. A really big football."

"Tatsu was getting away just fine."

"That thing was gonna stomp you into a potato pancake. And I didn't bring any applesauce."

"Meh, meh, Tatsu is dignified Nopon male, and not some toy. Except maybe for pretty Nopon girl."

"Ewwwwww!"

"Yet another dumb mess. I'm going to get some air," said Doug, sharply. He walked off into the darkness beyond the edge of the caravan, over by a herd of sleeping potamuses. Not scenic, and not such great air, if you asked Lin. Especially since they were sitting outside in the first place.

"Gee, I always thought you and Doug were supposed to be buddies. What's up?" If she ever wanted to change out of the Curators, Milly had a good future with the Mediators.

Lin gave the briefest of explanations about her troubles. "You see, I kind of used a fuel request by him as an excuse to sneak out of NLA without a proper team. Kind of on my own."

Milly sucked in her breath with a shocked hiss. Lin was so tired of people getting so upset when they heard the news. Did everyone think she was completely incompetent? The fact that they were a little bit right didn't make her feel better.

It was a moment before Milly spoke. "Well, I can imagine why he'd be upset," she said, slowly. "Look, I don't really know you guys, but maybe you should go talk to him. There's not much else to do in Dorian Caravan at night. Not much else to do in the daytime either, really."

Lin honestly didn't think much of this advice. She liked joking around with Doug, teasing him, bossing him around. But sometimes she wasn't sure they had much in common otherwise. He was so casual, even when he was working on stuff. Nothing seemed to get to him, outside of his job, and even that he didn't sweat, just attacked it a little harder. She, on the other hand, was all over the place, interested in everything, with an opinion on everything, and she really felt stuff. And it wasn't just hormones. She had always been that way, even as a little kid, crying when her friends had scraped their knees, jumping for joy when someone else had good news.

It was the puzzle of it all that finally motivated her. Here was Doug, who never got upset about all their failed skell trials, not really, behaving like he would never get over her one little misstep. It had been Two Weeks, and it had all been okay in the end, and he was still so angry that he couldn't be nice to her. This was so wrong. She wasn't a Mediator, thank goodness for that, but she certainly liked fixing stuff that was broken.

She trotted over in the direction that Doug had stomped. Yes, he had, he had stomped, this was not an exaggeration. A narrow land pathway, not half a meter wide, connected the caravan to the shoreline. The docile potamuses were snoring peacefully closest to the caravan. She saw Doug further on, almost exactly halfway between shore and island. He looked like he'd been throwing rocks into the dark lake.

"Hey, Doug, let me talk to you."

"Whatever. I'm not really interested. Trying just to get through this mission, you know?"

"It's going fine. We never were really in danger from that ictus."

"This was supposed to be just a gathering mission. Nothing heavy. Then that thing dropped on us. It wasn't tiny, Lin. If it had been stronger than normal, we'd have been in real trouble. I didn't see H.B. using any plan for going after it, and you're just a kid. I don't think Cross and I could've kept everyone safe."

"Hey, I'm a full BLADE, not 'just a kid'."

"Don't fool yourself, Lin. You're a long way from grown up, no matter what monster brains you have. You don't think stuff through, and you don't have the weight to go up against all the things that are out there. Don't get me started about Tatsu."

"You leave him out of it."

"He's always with you now, Lin, and you have to start treating him like something that isn't accidental excess baggage."

"This isn't about today, or today's mission, is it? You're still mad at me about going on a mission all on my own."

"Damn right I am. That was no mission, that was wandering around, looking for trouble. And, no surprise, you found it."

"I wasn't looking for trouble, Doug. I just wanted a chance to do something on my own, be helpful, see some stuff."

"You were asking to get hurt. Real missions don't just pop onto the board. A lot of eyes make sure that they're safe enough to tackle, and that the right teams go out. Teams need to know what they are up against. Even then, a lot of people are getting killed." He gave a deep sigh.

"But I made it back okay. Me and Tatsu, both of us, we're okay. We won't do it again." And she wouldn't, because she did not need the kind of trouble she'd had for two whole weeks.

All along, Doug had been speaking louder and louder. Suddenly, his voice went low and quiet and not quite level. "Don't you get it, Lin? If you had gotten hurt, it would have been my fault."

Lin blinked and wished it wasn't so dark. She wished she could see his face better. She said, gently, "I made the stupid decision, Doug, not you."

"I was stupid enough to run out of fuel. My mistake, and a big one, and it could have gotten you killed."

"Doug, you take risks all the time. Remember? All those prototypes, shwweeeeee, boom, crash?" She mimicked the sound of an exploding skell with an accuracy born of experience. "I don't see that stopping you."

"My risks, and they've got a reason. You're going to figure the flight module out, Lin, I know you will. Anything I can do to help, it's worth it. But _you_ have got to stay safe, or we don't have a chance."

Lin felt a sudden bubble of joy. Wow. Doug really believed in her. But she kept arguing. "I can't just stay in New LA. I'll lose my mind. Sometimes I need to know that I'm helping _right now_."

Doug scratched at his sideburns. He turned toward her, and in the faint light coming from the caravan torches, he looked really unhappy, and still angry. Which made what he said all the more surprising. "You're a good BLADE, Lin, and a good team member. You have everyone's back, and you're always ready with what your teammates need. If I'm gonna be honest, I'd take you up against most any curveball this planet throws at me. But you gotta think it through, kiddo. I don't want to have to worry like that again."

"I'm sorry, Doug." She realized she had never apologized to him. "It was a really dumb thing to do, wasn't it? I mean, a two person team, with Tatsu being the second person?"

"Yeah, stupid does not begin to cover it," he agreed.

"Idiotic."

"Bone headed."

"Brainless."

"Yelv." Doug was smiling for the first time since they'd left NLA.

"I'm really sorry, and I won't do it again." For the first time in two weeks, even though she'd said it many times before, Lin really meant it.

"Thanks. You don't know what that means to hear it. Sorry I've been such a bear. How about I get you some chocolate when we get back?"

"How about you promise to take me along on a mission or two?" she replied with a grin.

Doug could only growl in exasperation. But Lin was glad he didn't say no.

* * *

The next morning, Lin was surprised to see three skells parked at the entrance to Dorian Caravan. There was her lovely little beauty, with a custom sidecar for Team Leader Tatsu. Doug's regulation perfect one was parked right next to it. As always, she had to admire the Crossmobile. Cross' ride was a thing apart. How they'd managed to paint flames on it, she'd love to know, but Cross wasn't one to spill any secrets. They didn't explain how the skells had shown up either, only mentioning that Elma sent her greetings. Nothing for H.B., his must still be in the shop. Poor Doug, he'd probably have to carry snooty man in his lap all the way home. But, no, Cross gestured the Pathfinder over to share their ride. Cross really could be generous some times.

The return to New Los Angeles took a fraction of the time going out. Lin felt a great longing as the sight of the city rose into view. Home was a very nice place, especially when you were going back to it.

They parked their skells across from the BLADE mission board, and the team approached Eleonora. "Everything work out?" she asked them cheerfully. Even after Cross nodded calmly, she asked again. "And did you two work things out?"

Neither Lin nor Doug was going to admit they had any idea what she was talking about. Lin swung from side to side, just relaxing, right? Doug was really interested in the BLADE mission board. Neither looked directly at the BLADE administrator.

Eleonora shook her head in dismay, but she smiled as she gave the reward to Cross. All that was left was to divide the credits.

"Hey, wait," said Lin as Cross started doling them out. "I found the pomegranate, so I should get your share, Doug. Yours too, H.B."

"I don't recall your being party to our gentleman's agreement."

"That's sexist, H.B. You should know better." She smirked as H.B. stiffened and blushed.

"You didn't go in on it at the start," Doug complained. "You honestly want me to believe you'd have handed over your share if I'd have found it?"

"Yeah, but you never had a shot. I got a treasure augment just last month, special from L."

"That is chicanery, bordering on fraud," gasped H.B.

Doug groaned. "Just let her have the credits, H.B. We're never gonna win this one."

"Very well. Cross?" H.B. looked at their team leader.

Cross just shrugged their shoulders, but made no move to pass on their credits.

Lin giggled. "Cross contributed the first four pomegranates. I'm not going to ask for more." The groans of the two men were sweeter than the credits.

And that is how Lin and Tatsu earned enough credits for two special deluxe parfaits, watermelon and strawlenny this time, with enough left over for the most recent issue of Lin's favorite 'zine, Pretty Skell (N)e(x)t.

* * *

A/N: Written in a white fury after finishing Ch. 12. For pure research purposes (yeah, that's the reason), I ran this route so many times, and was floored by the scenery every time. The Great Ring at moonrise is unbelievable. Please, MONOLITHSOFT, make a Xeno for NX. It can be XenoFarmSim and I will preorder it three years out.


End file.
